Thursday, April 30, 2015

Capt. QUINT update - high resolution prototype

Instead of dropping $2500+ on a nice and clean looking professional prototype (which, I found out, is not needed by the final manufacturer - they make their own), I went with a local 3D print in the usual ABS plastic(significantly less costly and a whole bunch faster).There had to be some final changes - We printed this prototype from a series of separate STL files to ensure better output resolution, additionally, the larger insertion pegs have made it less fragile. To remedy the lower resolution finish, each piece had to be coated with multiple layers of a high build primer - most home hardware stores and auto parts suppliers carry a diverse variety of these...Despite the 99% humidity (most spray paints recommend no more than "moderate" - which, I guess, means around 70%), the primer eventually dried to an acceptable level of tackiness in 5 days!

The next steps involved a couple batches of a 400 grit sandpaper (dry, for a smooth yet tactile surface - to better accept the base coat that followed) and about an entire season rerun of AMCs Mad Men.

I used a neutral olive for the base coat - similar to the color on bare aluminum fuselages...

... now I'll need a table top compressor and some time to dust off my old iwata airbrush to give this prototype its final skin!